The First Christmas
by abstractular
Summary: Yuuki remembers the first Christmas she ever spent at the Cross household. Kaname had come to visit, and brought joy and laughter with him.


**Author's Note**: I know that it is no where NEAR Christmas, but this was actually written last Christmas for livejournal's VK community. So do enjoy, just…pretend it's Christmas

………………………

The earliest Christmas that Yuuki can remember was the year after Kaname saved her life, right before her seventh birthday. She remembers that the young Kuran came to their home after dinner on Christmas Eve.

Her 'father' had been teaching her how to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch, and Kaname came into the kitchen. As soon as she had seen him, she ran up and threw herself at his body with a great big baby-toothed smile. Unfortunately, she forgot that she still had cookie dough on her hands and therefore got it all over his coat. She had apologized for it ten times, but Kaname had laughed it off and ruffled her hair, saying that he didn't really like that coat anyway.

Yuuki's smile returned, much to his heart's content, and she tugged his hand along as she giggled that he must help Yuuki bake.

Her father sat down at the table, a wide grin on his face at the sight of the pureblood boy with his sleeves rolled up as he crushed cookie dough into small balls.

"And it's extra fun!" Yuuki exclaimed to him that night. "Because you can sneak some dough into your mouth when he's not looking!"

Kaname smiled as the tiny girl blushed and glanced at her father, realizing that she let slip the secret that she had been holding on to for the past half hour. Little did she know that Cross Kaien was well aware of his adoptive daughter's cookie stealth.

"Hey! Hey! Kaname-sama! Guess what?!"

She bounced on the balls of her feet and giggled in the heart-warming way that only small children could.

"What?" Kaname inquired, smiling lovingly at her as he rolled up another cookie ball.

"Father told me, he said, he said that tomorrow was a day called Christmas! He said it was a day where people give each other presents and everyone is nice to each other and that families are always together on that day!"

"That's right."

"So I thought…does that mean that Kaname-sama is going to spend the night and be with us on Christmas tomorrow?"

Silence rang out through the kitchen, and the boy exchanged a somber look with the young man at the table. Yuuki's smile faltered at the growing silence and she lifted up a doughy hand and grasped Kaname's shirt, tugging softly.

"Kaname-sama…is going to be with us on the day of family…right? Because Kaname-sama and Father are the only family that Yuuki has."

Pain shot through Kaname's heart at her torn expression and he took her hand in his and leaned down so that they were face to face as he spoke to her softly.

"Does Yuuki want me here tonight and tomorrow?"

The girl nodded, tears coating her eyes.

A smile came on his lips and he nodded once. "Then I will be."

He lifted up a ball of cookie dough and popped it into his mouth, winking at her until she broke into a fit of giggles.

"Is this really okay?" Kaien raised an eyebrow.

Kaname shrugged and straightened up. He sighed. Ichio would surly throw a fit if Kaname didn't come back until tomorrow night. But Yuuki requested it, and he could never deny her.

"Let me deal with them. I'll stay the night and tomorrow, if that's alright with you."

The blonde man smiled, nodding enthusiastically. "Of course! You're always welcome here Kaname-kun, you know that."

The children continued their activity in comfortable silence, occasionally laughing when they got too much batter in their hands. The man that would soon be known as 'Chairman' grinned as he watched them, happy to see the light and joy in the young boy's usually stoic eyes. He glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed.

"Yuuki, it's time for you to take a bath and then get into bed."

"But the cookies!"

"I'll finish up the cookies."

"They have to be ready for Santa!"

"I will make sure that there on the plate next to the milk in the living room."

"And they'll be good enough?"

"Santa will like anything that Yuuki makes, I'm sure."

The child grinned and hopped off the stool she was perched upon, looking up at the older boy. She got a fierce look on her face and her lower lip was in a determined pout.

"You wait in my room, okay? I want Kaname-sama to read me a story this time!"

Kaname nodded, watching with a small smile as she bounced out of the kitchen, unorthodoxly running into the door jam with a thump that made the boy wince. Too much energy, she had too much energy. He moved to the sink and washed his hands as Kaien put the cookie filled cookie sheet into the oven.

"It's nice of you to do this for her."

He sighed softly. "I can't say no to her."

"No," The ex-hunter grinned. "I doubt there is many in the world who can. I have trouble scolding her sometimes. She pulls that face and I just…"

"I know what you mean."

Kaname wiped his now clean hands on a towel and rolled down his shirtsleeves. He made his way towards the door, calling over his shoulder that he would be in Yuuki's room. Kaien nodded and started cleaning up the kitchen.

The pureblood passed by the bathroom door, chuckling softly when he could hear the tiny bell like voice belting out Jingle Bells as the water splashed. He opened up the tall wood door, flicking on the light as a rush of the girl's scent blew into his face. It was all over this room. The walls were pure white, and there was a tan bookcase against the far wall, holding a number of thin children's books of assorted different colors. Her bed was big, with a light blue thick comforter and cream-colored flannel pillowcases and bed sheets. Her dresser matched the bookcase, and a small stereo on top of it. Drawings done by a child's hand were put up on the walls, and one was contained in a dark blue frame.

Kaname ventured to the drawing and had to hold back the laugh that threatened to escape. Well, if that wasn't the uncanniest resemblance that he ever saw.

It was a dark blue crayola crayon circle, and then a black one on top of it with two dots in the middle and a smile. A mess of brown scribbles adorned the unproportional crayon figure's head. At the bottom of the page, it said in bold scratchy letters, 'Kaname-sama'.

He laughed softly, and almost jumped when the voice behind him spoke up happily.

"I drew that last week! Do you like it?"

He turned around, and laughed harder. There she was, wrapped in a large fluffy yellow towel, her long brown hair still dripping to the wood floor. Kaname nodded his head in response as he walked over and knelt down in front of her. He lifted the towel from around her shoulders and pushed it up into her hair, rubbing it dry with a soft touch.

"Yes I do, a masterpiece."

"That's what Father said! He said it was so good that we had to frame it!"

Kaname hummed happily and wrapped the cloth around her small form tightly before lifting her into his arms and moving across the room to plop her down on her bed. She squealed with laughter as she bounced on the mattress.

"Well, which pajamas do you want to wear?"

"Ummm…the green one!"

He went to her dresser and opened up the top drawer, pulling out a dark green nightgown and showing it to her.

"This?"

"No! No! The light green one!"

He rustled through the clothes before he found the dress she was talking about and pulled it out.

"This one?"

"Uh-huh!"

He grinned at her and tossed it onto the bed, turning to face the dresser so she could have some privacy.

"Okay, get ready for bed."

"No peeking!"

"I won't peek."

Sensitive ears listened to the sound of her sliding off the high bed and onto the floor. She ruffled around the cotton nighty and grunted and sighed heavily. She growled softly in frustration and then her footsteps ran past him out the door as she shouted down the hallway.

"Father! I can't get it on! Help! It's broken!"

Kaname peeked his head out the doorway, eyebrow raised. He almost toppled over in a fit of laughter. Yuuki's head was stuck inside the sleeve of her dress, and she ran down the hall blindly until she bumped into her father's legs.

"Yuuki," He laughed joyously. "You're trying to go through the arm hole."

"Help!" She chirped. "I'm stuck!"

The man sighed heavily and knelt down, pushing around the article of clothing until her head popped out, then her arms. He pulled the dress down to its proper length and brushed her hair out of her face.

"All good now?"

"Un!" She nodded and then ran back into her room, grabbing a few of Kaname's fingers as she passed and pulling him onto her bed as she climbed.

The older boy settled down beside her as she grabbed the book sitting on her nightstand. She passed it to him and crawled under the covers. Kaname propped himself up against her headboard and stretched his legs across her bed, smiling softly when she nestled close against his side and rested her tiny baby faced head upon his chest.

Yuuki looked up at him with big, innocent brown eyes and a cherub grin.

"Can you read to me, Kaname-sama?"

"_Tell me a bedtime story, Kaname-oniisama!"_

The words echoed in his head. Same voice, same face, same small girl. He clenched his eyes against the image of them sitting in a very different house, with a very different father, on a very different bed. He opened his eyes and nodded to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and held the storybook in front of them.

"Twas the night before Christmas," his soft voice echoed through the room. "And all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

He glanced down at her, watching as she happily took in the pictures underneath the words. Kaname sighed softly and rested his cheek against the top of her head as he continued. His voice, vibrating through her ear in such gentle tones, was the last thing she heard before slumber whisked her into its warm embrace.

………………………………….

"Is she asleep?" Kaien asked, a half hour later when Kaname entered the living room.

"Yes," he replied. "She went down after fifteen minutes."

Dark eyes moved over the decorated room. A large tree sat in the corner, brightly lit with different colored lights and garlands of popcorn and tinsel. Kaien was sitting in a large, leather chair, a plate of cookies in one hand as he munched on them.

"Are you going to eat all of those?"

"You should try them!" The man laughed. "They're really quite good, Yuuki did a great job."

Kaname smirked and walked over, taking a small cookie off the plate and biting into it as he sat down on the couch next to the chair. It actually was good, he thought, maybe the small girl had found a hidden talent in baking rather than cooking.

"Right then!" Kaien stood up and grabbed the glass of milk, drinking half of it before setting it down and moving to pull a large bag out from behind the tree. He opened it up and dumped out about twenty or so brightly wrapped packages.

Kaname's eyes widened slightly. "Do you think you got her enough?"

"Oh don't be silly." The blonde laughed. "Only ten of these are from me. Five are from you, and five are from Santa."

The boy grinned and shook his head. "Actually I already bought her three presents. I hid them in here two weeks ago."

The two males laughed in good nature and began to set things up for the perfect Christmas morning. It was quite amazing, the things that one could do when it was for someone they cared for. No one of the Vampire society would ever suspect that Christmas Eve night Kuran Kaname stuck presents under a tree, ate cookies, and stuffed a large stocking labeled "Yuuki".

But that was exactly what Kuran Kaname did that night, because he knew that it would all be worth it to see her face when she walked through the doorway and saw the wonderland of her first human Christmas.

Hours later, Kaname crept quietly back into the small girl's room. He watched the moonlight play on her face before he tucked the blankets around her shoulders and brushed her bangs away from her lightly closed eyes. Then, because he knew she would be sad if she woke and didn't see him there, he crawled onto the bed next to her and closed his eyes. For the first time in a year, he felt like he was at home again.

……………………………..

"Kaname-sama."

A tiny palm gently rocked his shoulder.

"Kaname-sama, wake up!"

He blinked his eyes and focused on the smiling face of a tiny girl. Her brown hair flooded over her little shoulders and she bounced in the bed, shaking the frame so he woke up faster.

"It's Christmas, Kaname-sama! It's Christmas!"

He glanced at the clock and sighed. "Yuuki, it's four in the morning, shouldn't you still be sleeping?"

"But Santa might have come!"

He smiled and nodded, sitting up and pulling the blankets off of her. "Okay then. Let's go wake up your father."

She bounced along beside him, clinging to his hand and giggling as she hummed Christmas tunes. When she opened the door to her adopted Father's bedroom, she didn't waste any time in running and jumping on the lump under the sheets.

"Wake up!" She cried. "It's Christmas! Santa came!"

Kaien grunted, slowly sending sleep away as he yielded to the little one's tug and soon they were all walking down the hallway into the living room.

As soon as she looked into the doorway, Kaname's eyes looked onto her.

"WOW!"

Her mouth dropped in a pleased gasp and her cheeked flushed pink with pleasure, her eyes lightened a shade and twinkled in merriment. She jumped up and down and ran into the room, looking at the empty plate and glass next to the couch.

"FATHER HE CAME! KANAME-SAMA! LOOK! HE ATE MY COOKIES!"

She bounded to the tree and looked underneath the branches, laughing and squealing with complete and undiluted joy.

"He left stuff!!!"

She ran at Kaname and launched herself onto his waist, her arms circling around him. He smiled and placed his hand on her head, petting her hair softly as she grinned up at him.

"Kaname-sama got me stuff too?"

"I did."

"That's good! I got you presents too! They're in my room! I'll go get them!"

She let go of him and bounded down the hallway into her bedroom, returning with three small gifts in her arms. He let himself be a little shocked that she even thought to give him anything at all. As far as he was concerned, she already did.

Yuuki was happy.

That was all he needed.


End file.
